Safety pressure cap with safety release mechanism



D. FRIEND 3,

SAFETY PRESSURE CAP WITH SAFETY RELEASE MECHANISM March 26, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1960 INVENTOR. DAWSON FFuEND ATTOR N EY Nwwfd B. Howl "*"ILIIIIIIIL I March 26, 1963 D. FRIEND SAFETY PRESSURE CAP WITH SAFETY RELEASE MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1960 INVENTOR. DAWSON FmE-No ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,082,905 SAFETY PRESSURE CAP WETH SAFETY RELEASE MECHANISM Dawson Friend, Connersville, Ind, assignor to Stant Manufacturing Company, Inc, Connersville, Ind., a

corporation of Indiana Filed July 5, 1960, Ser. No. 40,724 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-44) The present invention relates to a safety pressure cap for automobile radiators, and is particularly concerned with an improved means for safely releasing pressure within the cooling system.

Many present day automobiles are equipped with cooling systems which are designed to operate under superatmospheric pressure and at temperatures above the atmospheric boiling point. The filler neck closure cap in such a system carries a valve which is resiliently held against a seat within the filling neck to maintain the design pressure; and if the cap is quickly removed from the filler neck at a time when the engine has been in operation for an appreciable period, the sudden release of the pressure within the cooling system frequently causes steam and water to spew from the fillerneck, drenching and scalding the individual who has so removed the cap. While the retainer means for such caps are usually designed to provide an intermediate dwell position which is intended to inhibit such quick removal, the dwell position can be easily overcome, and the fact is that accidents of the character above described are not at all unusual.

Various expedients have been proposed for relieving the cooling system pressure before starting removal of the cap, and some of those expedients have been tried commercially; but, so far as I am advised, no one of them :has met with any substantial degree of success since, for

one reason or another, they have all been relatively ineffective to protect the careless or uninformed motorist or service station attendant.

The primary object of the present invention, then, is to provide improved means for efiectively relieving the pressure within such a cooling system before starting removal of the closure cap.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which shall include operating means of such character as to be ostentatiously visible to anyone approaching the cap, whereby his attention will be called to the presence of such pressure relieving means and he will be reminded to avail himself of the safety feature which has been provided.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of the character described which, through a quick and simple manipulation, while the closure cap remains in fully seated position, will lift the pressure valve affirm-atively and bodily oif its seat within the filler neck to establish open and unrestricted communication bet-ween the interior of the cooling system and the conventional Overflow vent which is present in all such filler necks.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described in which the most convenient means for manipulating the cap is, itself, the actuator for the pressure-release means.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illus trated in the acompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a closure cap constructed in accordance with the present invention, the

3,082,905; Patented Mar. 26, 1963 "ice parts being shown in normal operating positions in which the pressure valve is resiliently engaged with the seat in the filler neck to maintain design pressure in the cooling system;

FIG. 2 is a similar section, showing the parts in pres sure-relieving positions;

FIG. 3 is a fragmen-tal section illustrating a modified form of operating means for the release mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap of FIG. 1, the valve proper being removed to display the actuating mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a perspective of the valve operating cam mechanism embodied in the form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6 and illustrating the parts in normal operating condition; and

FIG. 8 is a section similar to FIG. 7 but showing the parts in pressure-relieving positions.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 5, it will be seen that I have illustrated a conventional filler neck indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 and formed to provide an upper or diaphragm seat 11, a peripheral lip 12 wth cammed lower edges, an extension 13 cooperatively associated with the conventional radiator tank (not shown) of an automobile cooling system, and a pressure valve seat 14. In accordance wtih conventional practice, the filler neck 10 is provided with an overflow vent !15 with which is connected an overflow conduit 16, the vent being positioned between the seats 14 and 11.

My safety pressure cap is indicated generally by the reference numeral 17 and comprises a cap body 18 within which is supported a flexible diaphragm 19 whose peripheral region engages the seat 11 when the cap is in position on the filler neck.

A pressure valve assembly indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 includes a valve carrier 21 upon which is supported a gasket 21 adapted sealingly to engage the seat 14 when the cap assembly is retainingly mounted on the filler neck. The carrier 21 and gasket 21' are, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, centrally perforated as at 22 and a vacuum relief valve 23, whose stem 24 penetrates the said perforation, is arranged to close against the gasket 21' under normal operating conditions, in accordance with conventional practice.

The carrier 21 is supported upon an annular pan 25 which is formed to provide a collar flange 26 which is loosely sleeved upon a domed-shaped support bell 27 the upper end of which is fixedly secured to the cap body 18 at a central perforation 28 in said cap body. The lower end of the support 27 is formed to provide an outturned flange 29 whose external diameter exceeds the internal diameter of the collar flange 26. Diametrically opposed slots 30, 30 in the bell 27 open through the flange 29. A spring 31 is confined between the diaphragm 19 and the pan 25 to hold the diaphragm in place and to urge the valve assembly 20 away from the capy body 18.

A cam lever 32 is formed, as is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 5, with a toe portion 33 which is engaged between the collar flange 26 of the span 25 and the flange 29 at the lower end of the bell 27. The lever 32 is formed to provide a shank 34 which extends through the associated slot 39, and to provide a curved stem or cam arm 35. As will be seen from an examination of FIGS. 4 and 5, the arm 35 is concentric with the central axis of the cap body, is disposed within the hollow body of the bell 27, and inclines sharply toward the cap body as it retreats from the toe 33. Thus, the lever 32 is fulcrumed upon the flange 29 of the bell and, if it is rocked in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 about its fulcrum, the toe 33 will exerta lifting force upon the collar flange 26 of the pan 25 to shift the valve assembly 29, afi'irmatively against the tendency of the spring 31, toward the cap body 18.

An identical lever 36 is allochirally arranged with respect to the lever 32 so that its cam arm 37 is complementally disposed with respect to the arm 35 and its toe is engaged between the flange 29 and the collar flange 26 in a region diametrically opposed to the location of V the toe 33 of the lever 32. An actuator means 38 is formed with a shank portion 39 journalled in and penetrating the aperture 28 in the cap body; and a squared or polygonal rivet 4i) secures a cam 41 to the base of the actuator shank. The cam 41 is formed to provide a discoid body 42 which is rota tionally guided within the hollow body of the bell 27; and said cam is formed to provide two depending, diametrically opposed cam fingers 43 and 44 cooperable, respectively, with the arms 35 and 37 of the cam levers 32 land 36. The leading corner 45 of the finger 43 and the leading corner 46 of the finger 44 are preferably rounded for smooth camming coaction with the curved surfaces of the cam lever arms 35 and 37. The cam body 42 is formed with a polygonal aperture 47 therethrough for the accommodation of the correspondingly shaped shank of the rivet 40, whereby a rotational driving connection is provided between the actuator 38 and the cam 41.

In the form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4,

the actuator 38 comprises a wing lever 49; and it will be readily apparent that the presence of such a lever (which may be prominently colored if desired) will instantly at tract the attention of anyone who approaches the cap 17 with the idea of removing the cap.

As shown, the conventional retainer fingers 50 of the cap 17 are fully engaged with the cammed lower edges of the flange 12 to hold the cap in place on the filler neck; and the parts are so proportioned and designed that, when the cap is so positioned, the valve assembly will have been lifted slightly relative to the bell 27 against the tendency of the spring 31, thus permitting the levers 32 and 36 to rock slightly about their respective fulcra.

Now, if the actuator 38 is turned in a clockwise direction as viewed from above in FIG. 1, the rounded corner 45 of the finger 43 will engage the lever arm and the rounded corner 46 of the finger 44 will engage the lever arm 37 to rock those levers still further, thereby lifting the lever toes and so lifting the valve assembly 20, against the tendency of the spring 31, completely off the seat 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2, whereby the interior of the cooling system will be placed in communication with the over flow vent 15 and the pressure within the system will be vented to the atmosphere. It will be noted that this operation takes place without disturbing in any way the full engagement of the retainer fingers with the cammed edge of the flange 12, so that the diaphragm 19 remains fully seated on the seat 11 to prevent the escape of my steam through the upper mouth of the filler neck.

Preferably, an edge of one of the slots 30 will be bent inwardly as at 48 into the path of the cam fingers to stop the finger 43 before the upper end of the lever 32 can ride off the lower surface of the cam finger, and to stop the counter-clockwise edge of the finger 44, upon reverse rotary movement of the actuator 38, before that finger can come into engagement with the lever arm 32.

Once the pressure has been released, in the manner above described, the cap 17 may be safely removed from the filler neck in the conventional manner. It will be clear that, until the actuator 38 is turned again in a counter-clockwise direction, the valve assembly 20 will be held in its retracted position. The actuator can be so returned, after pressure relief has been completed, either before the cap is removed from the filler neck or while the cap is ofl the tiller neck or after the cap has been replaced on the filler neck. If the actuator is so returned while the cap is off the filler neck, it will be clear that the spring 31 will force the valve assembly 28 away from the cap body 13 until the collar flange 26 has pressed the toes of the lever-s 32 and 36 flatly into engagement with the bell flange 29.

In FIG. 3, I have illustrated a modified form of actuator 38', said actuator comprising a cap-like shell 51 having an interrupted perimetral skirt 52 and being formed with a shank 53 constructed and arranged like the actuator shank 39 of FIG. 1 and perforated to accommodate the rivet 40 whereby the cam 41 is operatively secured to the actuator 38'. In this form of the invention, the parts will be so proportioned and designed that the actuator 38' may have limited rotational movement relative to the cap 17'; and preferably the'cam parts will be reversely designed so that counter-clockwise movement of the actuator 38 relative to the cap 17, as viewed from above, will retract the pressure valve before continued counter clockwise movement of the shell and the cap together removes the cap from the filler neck; and clockwise movement of the actuator 38 will first seat the cap 17 on the filler neck and then actuate the camming mechanism to permit the spring 31 to force the valve assembly 20 against the pressure seat 14. I

In FIGS. 6 to 8, I have illustrated a further embodiment of my invention in which the cap, indicated generally by the reference numeral 67, comprises a body 68 carrying a diaphragm 69 and a valve assembly 70 including a gasket 71 adapted to be sealingly engaged with the pressure seat 14 within the filler neck 10. The gasket 71 is carried by a pan 72 having an inturned collar flange 73 loosely sleeved on a dome-shaped support bell 74, said bell having an outturned flange 75 engageable by the collar flange 73 to limit movement of the valve assembly away from the cap body 68. Within the pan 72 is reciprocably mounted a vacuum'relief valve 76 cooperatively engageable with a seat 77 formed within said pan.

The support 74- reciprocably penetrates a central aperture 78 in the cap body 68 and is supported by a rivet 79 penetrating an aperture 80 within the length of a lever which, in the illustrated form of the invention, constitutes a leaf spring 81 one end of which is anchored, as by meansof the rivet 82, to the cap body 68. Said spring 81 extends transaxially relative to the cap body and its other end is downturned as at 83 to extend through a 'of the cap body 68. A cam having a base 92 which is spot welded to the hub section of the lever 85, is formed to provide a cam surface the low end 91 of which is proportioned and arranged to engage beneath the spring 81 when the end 83 of said spring is inits lowermost position. Preferably, a sealing gasket 93 is sleeved on the support 74 between the cap body and the lever hub 86.

As in the previously described embodiment, a spring 94 is confined between the diaphragm 69 anda shoulder on the pan 72, resiliently to resist movement of the valve assembly 70 toward the cap body 68.

The 'cap body is provided with the conventional retainer fingers 95 engageable with the cammed edge of the seat 14, the valve assembly 70 being slightly lifted so that the collar flange 73 is out of engagement with the bell flange 75. If, now, the lever 85 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 6, the low end 91 of the cam 90 will move beneath the spring 81 and, as such movement of the lever continues, the inclined surface of the cam 90 will raise the distal end of the leaf spring 81, whereby the bell support 74 will be lifted to the position of FIG. 8 in which, it will be seen, the bell flange 75 has engaged and entrained the collar flange 73 to lift the gasket 71 off its seat 14, against the tendency of the spring 94, to open the interior of the cooling system to the vent port 15.

Once the pressure within the system has been relieved, the cap may be safely removed from the filler neck. In this form of the invention, the cap body 68 preferably will not be provided with ears like the ears 96, 96 of FIG. 3. Thus, the lever 85 appears, to anyone about to remove the cap, to be the most convenient means for grasping the cap; and almost inevitably the first step which he will take toward removal of the cap is to turn the lever 85 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus lifting the gasket 71 off its seat 14.

The parts are so proportioned and designed that the edge 97 of the lever arm 88 will come into engagement with the depending end portion 98 of the spring 81 and the edge 99 of the lever arm 89 will come into engagement with the depending portion 83 of the spring when the high portion of the cam 90 is beneath the distal portion of the spring 81 as shown in FIG. 8. Thus, a further exertion of force upon the lever 85 in a counterclockwise direction will rotate the cap body 68 in a counter-clockwise direction to disengage the retainer fingers 95 from the lip 12 of the filler neck.

In replacing the cap, force will again be applied to the lever 85, this time in a clockwise direction. The cap may move with the lever until resistance to clockwise movement of the cap exceeds the effect of friction between the lever and the cap, whereafter the lever will move in a clockwise direction relative .to the cap until the end 100 of the cam 90 engages the edge -1 of the spring 81, whereafter the cap will again be entrained with the lever to be moved to fully-seated position.

I claim as my invention:

1. A safety pressure cap comprising a cap body, support means centrally fixedly dependent from said body, a valve member mounted on said support means for limited reciprocation relative thereto toward and away from said cap body, spring means resiliently resisting movement of said valve member toward said cap body, lever means fulcrurned on said support means and engageable with said valve member, actuator means supported on said cap body for oscillation about an axis generally perpendicular to said cap body, and cam means movable with said actuator means and operatively engageable with said lever means to shift said valve member toward said cap body against the tendency of said spring means.

2. A safety pressure cap comprising a cap body, a dome-shaped, hollow support centrally fixedly dependent from said body and terminating at its distal end in an outturned flange, said support being formed with a slot opening through said flange, a lever having a toe resting on said flange and spanning the slot therethrough, said lever further having a shank extending through the slot in said support to the hollow interior of said support and curving toward said cap body and toward the wall of said hollow support, an element reciprocably externally sleeved on said support for reciprocation toward and away from said cap body, said element having a portion disposed between said cap body and said lever toe and engageable With said lever toe to limit movement of said element away from said cap body, valve means carried by said element, spring means confined between said element and said cap body and resisting movement of said element toward said cap body, actuator means supported from said cap body for oscillation about an axis generally perpendicular to said cap body, and a cam member oscillably mounted within said hollow support between said lever and said cap body and engageable with the shank of said lever to shift said lever shank away from said cap body thereby lifting said element toward said cap body against the tendency of said spring means, said actuator means being operatively connected to said cam means to actuate the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 382,329 Seymour May 8, 1888 1,033,136 Wennersten July 23, 1912 1,933,740 Kuwada Nov. 7, 1933 2,088,226 Arvintz July 27, 1937 2,524,558 Burkhardt Oct. 3, 1950 2,760,367 Stromberg Aug. 28, 1956 2,792,964 Reese et al. May 21, 1957 2,964,214 Stannard Dec. 13, 1960 

2. A SAFETY PRESSURE CAP COMPRISING A CAP BODY, A DOME-SHAPED, HOLLOW SUPPORT CENTRALLY FIXEDLY DEPENDENT FROM SAID BODY AND TERMINATING AT ITS DISTAL END IN AN OUTTURNED FLANGE, SAID SUPPORT BEING FORMED WITH A SLOT OPENING THROUGH SAID FLANGE, A LEVER HAVING A TOE RESTING ON SAID FLANGE AND SPANNING THE SLOT THERETHROUGH, SAID LEVER FURTHER HAVING A SHANK EXTENDING THROUGH THE SLOT IN SAID SUPPORT TO THE HOLLOW INTERIOR OF SAID SUPPORT AND CURVING TOWARD SAID CAP BODY AND TOWARD THE WALL OF SAID HOLLOW SUPPORT, AN ELEMENT RECIPROCABLY EXTERNALLY SLEEVED ON SAID SUPPORT FOR RECIPROCATION TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID CAP BODY, SAID ELEMENT HAVING A PORTION DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID CAP BODY AND SAID LEVER TOE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID LEVER TOE TO LIMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID ELEMENT AWAY FROM SAID CAP BODY, VALVE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID ELEMENT, SPRING MEANS CONFINED BETWEEN SAID ELEMENT AND SAID CAP BODY AND RESISTING MOVEMENT OF SAID ELEMENT TOWARD SAID CAP BODY, ACTUATOR MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID CAP BODY FOR OSCILLATION ABOUT AN AXIS GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID CAP BODY, AND A CAM MEMBER OSCILLABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOLLOW SUPPORT BETWEEN SAID LEVER AND SAID CAP BODY AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE SHANK OF SAID LEVER TO SHIFT SAID LEVER SHANK AWAY FROM SAID CAP BODY THEREBY LIFTING SAID ELEMENT TOWARD SAID CAP BODY AGAINST THE TENDENCY OF SAID SPRING MEANS, SAID ACTUATOR MEANS BEING OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID CAM MEANS TO ACTUATE THE SAME. 